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Birgfeld’s remains found

Although searchers had combed the north Delta creek bed a number of times years before, it was in that same desolate location where two hikers in March stumbled upon the skeletal remains of missing Grand Junction woman Paige Birgfeld.

Birgfeld, 34, a mother of three children, who led a double life as an escort, was last heard from June 28, 2007, after returning to Grand Junction from Eagle. Extensive searches in 2007 focused on areas south of U.S. Highway 50 after some of Birgfeld’s personal items were found strewn along the highway.

Birgfeld’s body was discovered buried in the area just north of Wells Gulch, about a mile east of U.S. Highway 50. Seasonal runoff apparently had made her remains visible when hikers discovered them on March 6.

Birgfeld’s remains still are in the custody of the authorities, and no one has been charged in her death. Autopsies did not reveal a cause of her death, according to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department.

During the investigation, the Sheriff’s Department released the name of a lone suspect in the case, 56-year-old Lester Ralph Jones. Jones allegedly was a client of Birgfeld’s escort business.